PRAKRITI, 28st Dec 2020, Vol.II, Issue 11

Weekly magazine

P R A K R I T I Quest For Nature

Flora of the week Fauna of the week Bird of the week

Prunus cerasoides Pteropus medius Accipiter badius or or or Indian flying fox Shikra

Officers’ Club Central Academy for State Forest Service, Dehradun P R A K R I T I, 28th December 2 0 2 0, V O L. II, I S S U E 11 FLORA OF THE WEEK

Prunus cerasoides

Cherry Blossom

Cherry blossom also called wild Himalayan Kingdom Plantae cherry is a species native to East Asia, South Phylum Spermatophyta

Asia and south East Asia. They are used for Class its cherry blossom displays and festivals. It Order has been used for various landscape Family Rubiaceae decorations as it adds to the aesthetic view. It is mostly cultivated as ornamental . Genus Prunus

Species ceracoides

Cultivation: It thrives well in well drained and moisture retentive

loamy soil, in an open, sunny and sheltered location. It is shallow rooted and is likely to produce suckers if the root is damaged. It is

likely to become chlorotic if too much lime is present. Seed mature

in March- April. Mature seeds are better collected from tree rather than from the ground. The seeds start germinating within 25 days

and germination is completed within 15 days.

Cherry blossom are medium size

deciduous tree. it has a brownish grey

bark, smooth and peels off in a thin, shining horizontal stripes exposing

shining copper colored surface. Its leaves are ovate, acuminate and

doubly serrate.

The flowers are bisexual and occur in Uses:

fascicles of pink colour, gradually fading nearly to white. Pollination is mainly through 1. The leaves twigs and bark contain cyanogenic substance. 2. The bark is used for plastering fractures bones. insects. The fruits are produced in abundance 3. The stem is antipyretic, locally used for treating vomiting having scanty pulp and are scarcely eaten. and leukoderma.

Distribution:

Its ranges extend in from Himachal Pradesh in north central , to

south west China, Burma and Thailand.

Central Academy For State Forest Service Guided by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President Officers’ Club Photography & Compiled by: Ph : 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail : [email protected] Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President Officers’ Club Lawmnapari | SFS 2019 – 21| P1

V V V P R A K R I T I, 28th December, 2 0 2 0, V O L. II, I S S U E 11 ANIMAL OF THE WEEK

Pteropus medius

Indian flying fox

Indian flying fox/ Greater Indian fruit Reproduction:

fox is largest bat in India and one of the Polygynandrous spp. largest bats in world. Breeding period: July to October Body weight: .6 to 1.6 kg Gestation period: 140 to 150 day Body length: 15.5 to 22.0 cm Only mother care of neonate’s Wingspan range: 1.2 to 1.5 meter males not involve in caring. Fore limb converted into wing and Average birth no. 1 to 2 pups covered cutaneous yellow brown

mantle . Maturity attends 18 to 20 months

WPA, 1972: Schedule V IUCN Status: leastconcern

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Order chiroptera

Family pteropodidea

Genus Pteropus

Species medius

Behavior and Ecology: Distribution :

Diet; frugivorous or Indian flying fox is found across Indian nectivorous, they eat fruit subcontinent. and drink from flower. Seed are ingested fruit are It roosted long open canopy tree prefer near water scarified in the digestive tract body, urban area, agriculture crop land as well as and dispersed through its orchid. This habitat is sifted and highly depends on

wests for example key stone food availability.

of ecosystem i.e. Banyan tree. It roosted on tree tops.

Generally they are Relation to human: Disease frugivorous so the poaches transmission: natural reservoir unripe or ripe fruit from of disease including former orchid. They are Hemipaviruses, flavivirus. nocturnal but day time can Positive tested for Nimph virus also fly. They are known as as well GDV-D due to human pest of farm land such as encroachment in their habitat. mango and guava.

Central Academy For State Forest Service Guided by: Photography & Compiled by: Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President Officers’ Club P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Kamal Kumar | SFS2019 – 21| P2 Ph : 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail : [email protected] Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President Officers’ Club V V V a P R A K R I T I, 28th December 2 0 2 0, V O L. II, I S S U E 11 BIRD OF THE WEEK

Accipiter badius

The Shikra- Little but powerful Raptor

The Shikra (Accipiter badius) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes eagle, hawks, kites and osprey, found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the little banded goshawk. The shikra is very similar in appearance

to other sparrowhawk species including the Chinese goshawk and Eurasian sparrowhawk. They have a sharp two note call and have the typical flap and glide flight.

Their calls are imitated by drongos and the common hawk-cuckoo resembles it in plumage .

Identification: The Shikra is a small raptor (26-30 cm long) and like most other

Accipiter hawks, this species has short rounded wings and a narrow and somewhat long tail. Adults are whitish on the underside with fine rufous bars

while the upperparts are grey. Males have a red iris while the females have a less red (yellowish orange) iris.

Shikra is a bird that embodies brain and bravery. Shikra was a hunter’s best Kingdom Animalia

friend, and could be both trained and tamed before it became illegal to do so. The Phylum Chordata talents of the Shikra have long been known. Great courage, coupled with Class Aves intellect as a hunter, making it one of the easiest to train and tame, made the Shikra the most common bird used in the art of falconry across the country in Order Accipitriformes

pre-independence times. Family Accipitridae

An Indian Navy helicopter base was named INS Shikra in 2009. Famous Punjabi poet Genus Accipiter

Shiv Kumar Batalvi wrote a poem called “Main ik Shikra Yaar Banaya” about a lost love. Species badius

Ecology: The Shikra is found in a range of habitats including forests, farmland and urban areas. They are usually seen singly or in pairs. The flight is typical with flaps and glides.

During the breeding season pairs will soar on thermals and stoop at each other.

Food: They feed on rodents, squirrels, small birds, small reptiles (mainly lizards but sometimes small snakes) and insects.

The breeding season: in India is in summer from March to June. The nest is a platform similar to that of crows lined with grass. Both sexes help build the nest, twigs being carried in their feet. The usual clutch is 3 to 4 eggs which are pale bluish grey stippled on the broad end in

black. The incubation period is 18 to 21 days.

DISTRIBUTION:

Shikra birds are distributed in Indian (throughout the

country) subcontinent, South China, , Indonesia and Africa.

Central Academy For State Forest Service Guided by: Photography & Compiled by: Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President Officers’ Club P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand KAPIL KUMAR | SFS 2019 – 21| Ph : 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail : casfos.dd- Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President Officers’ Club [email protected] P3